"

"Yes, sir."

"And if I say no?"

Hector hesitated. Leoh sensed he was struggling with himself. "If you
say no," he answered dully, "then it will be no. I can't argue against
you any more."

Leoh was silent for a long moment. Finally he opened a desk drawer and
took a small bottle from it. "Here, take a sleep capsule. When you
wake up we'll try again."

* * * * *

It was dawn when they began again. Leoh entered the dueling machine
determined to allow Hector to win. He gave the youthful Star Watchman
his choice of weapon and environment. Hector picked one-man
scoutships, in planetary orbits. Their weapons were conventional force
beams.

But despite his own conscious desire, Leoh found himself winning! The
ships spiraled about an unnamed planet, their paths intersecting at
least once in every orbit. The problem was to estimate your opponent's
orbital position, and then program your own ship so that you arrived
at that position either behind or to one side of him. Then you could
train your guns on him before he could turn on you.

The problem should have been an easy one for Hector, with his knack
for intuitive mental calculation. But Leoh scored the first
hit--Hector had piloted his ship into an excellent firing position,
but his shot went wide; Leoh maneuvered around clumsily, but managed
to register an inconsequential hit on the side of Hector's ship.

In the next three passes, Leoh scored two more hits. Hector's ship
was badly damaged now. In return, the Star Watchman had landed one
glancing shot on Leoh's ship.

They came around again, and once more Leoh had outguessed his younger
opponent. He trained his guns on Hector's ship, then hesitated with
his hand poised above the firing button.

_Don't kill him again_, he warned himself. _His mind can't accept
another defeat._

But Leoh's hand, almost of its own will, reached the button and
touched it lightly. Another gram of pressure and the guns would fire.

In that instant's hesitation. Hector pulled his crippled ship around
and aimed at Leoh. The Watchman fired a searing blast that jarred
Leoh's ship from end to end. Leoh's hand slammed down on the firing
button, whether he intended to do it or not, he did not know.

Leoh's shot raked Hector's ship but did not stop it. The two vehicles
were hurtling directly at each other. Leoh tried desperately to avert
a collision, but Hector bored in grimly, matching Leoh's maneuvers